Being on a Mormon mission can be like taking all the rules of being a good member of the church and multiplying them by 10 and injecting them with steroids. Sometimes, as often happens when there are too many rules, they got in the way of actually being a good missionary.

One morning during study session, I encountered a glorious statement from the late apostle Neal Maxwell:

One of the ironies which is fostered, at times innocently, in the Church, is the feeling we have that the spirit of the law is superior to the letter of the law because for some reason it seems more permissive or less apt to offend others. The reverse is true. The spirit of the law is superior because it demands more of us that the letter of the law. The spirit of the law insists that we do more than merely comply superficially. It means, too, that we must give attention to the things that matter most and still not leave the others undone.

A related comparison is living the “lower law” vs. the “higher law”, or the Law of Moses vs. the Law of Jesus. People often choose the letter of the law, I think, because it’s easier in many ways. Someone else can do the thinking for you and tell you where you stand. It’s much harder to come to your own conclusions and be introspective. But that’s probably why it’s so much better for spiritual growth.